Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- SureView Analytics
Tech Stack
- Big Data analytics
- Business Intelligence
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Search & Rescue
Services
- Data Science Services
About The Customer
The customer in this case study is a U.S. government department that receives a significant number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. In fiscal year 2012, this department received more than 22,000 FOIA requests. To accommodate the demand, the department employs nearly 375 FOIA specialists either on a full-time or part-time basis. The department was struggling with the timeliness of their responses, with specialists spending an average of 33 days to respond to a request. The department was seeking a solution to enhance its search capabilities and reduce response time.
The Challenge
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been a gateway for Americans to access data and knowledge maintained by government agencies since the 1960s. However, the system has become a victim of its own success, with over 550,000 requests annually, overwhelming the fifteen U.S. departments and agencies that receive 90 percent of all such requests. The departments were struggling with the timeliness of their responses, effectiveness of their communications and facilitation of information flow to citizens. One department, which received more than 22,000 FOIA requests in fiscal year 2012, was spending an average of 33 days to respond to a request, with 22 of those days devoted to locating the required data. The department was seeking a solution to enhance its search capabilities and reduce response time.
The Solution
In October of 2014, the department turned to Forcepoint and its SureView Analytics solution to address the concerns. SureView Analytics is a proven, Big Data analytics and information sharing enterprise platform. Its search capability gives users instant access to all existing data which can provide a completely inclusive picture of a FOIA request. With leading-edge federated searching, it swiftly connects any number of remote data sources – such as internal or external databases, websites, emails and documents – to capture actionable results in seconds. The solution has a very low Total Cost of Ownership, is quickly deployed, and eliminates massive data duplication. Because SureView Analytics has a customizable web interface tailored to automate repeatable search procedures, queries are executed quickly and easily, with little user interaction and fast inter-agency adoption.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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